David Y. Ige

HONOLULU – The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) today confirmed an additional case of hepatitis A in an Oahu food service worker. The infected case is an employee at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka restaurant, located at 801 Kaheka Street, Honolulu. The employee worked on July 21-23 and 26-30, and Aug. 2-6 and 9-11, 2016.

“Even though we’ve identified and work to confirm the likely source of the overall outbreak, we may continue to see new cases with hepatitis A infection like this person because of how long ago people would have been exposed,“ said State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park.  “Our work to control further spread of disease is not yet over.”

DOH is providing this information to the public as a precaution in an attempt to prevent any new cases.  The likelihood that patrons of this business will become infected is very low. To date, DOH has confirmed a total of 206 cases of hepatitis A as part of this outbreak investigation. Updated case counts and information are provided each Wednesday along with a complete list of food service establishments who have had employees diagnosed with hepatitis A infection at the following link: https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/hepatitis-a-outbreak-2016/.

Vaccination provides the best protection from hepatitis A, so any person who consumed food or beverage products prepared or served at this business during the identified periods may want to contact their healthcare providers about receiving a vaccine or immune globulin (IG).  This may provide some protection against the disease if administered within two weeks after exposure. A statewide list of vaccinating pharmacies can be found at https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/files/2013/07/IMM_Adult_Resource_List.pdf, or call the Aloha United Way information and referral line at 2-1-1

Help prevent the spread of hepatitis A by washing your hands often and thoroughly.  For more information on proper handwashing: https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/dib/infectious-disease-surveillance/handwashing/.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT:

Judy Kern

Disease Outbreak Control Division

Phone: (808) 587-6372

Email: [email protected]